Rainfall
by Estrelle Buscador
Summary: Eugene's plans to surprise Rapunzel with a picnic get struck down by an unexpected thunderstorm. But he still manages to deliver some surprises...


Greetings Readers! Here's a short one-shot of fluffy goodness between Rapunzel and Eugene - I hope you like it!

Disclaimer: I do not own Tangled, or any of its characters. Alas.

* * *

It was possible, Rapunzel mused, to see something for eighteen years and not truly understand it.

Tucked into the window box of her bedroom, she stared contemplatively over the kingdom and decided that rain was one of those things. Her birthday took place right in the middle of the sunniest time of the year, and so for several months after she'd come home there'd been no notable rain storms. But a real storm had hit the country in the early morning hours and remained over most of the day – and Rapunzel had been transfixed by it for most of that time.

Not that she had never seen rain – storms showed no discrimination between castles and isolated towers – but watching it from her window box was a wholly new experience. The acoustics were different; instead of the dull, steady thudding of raindrops she remembered from the tower, she could hear an entire orchestra of sounds that the rain created. The tinny, sharp drizzle as the rain caught in the gutters of the roof and spilled on the ground, the scattering and bending of tree leaves as the raindrops fell through the gaps of the tree branches, the almost melodic quality of the rain as it hit the metal statues of the palace walls – Rapunzel listened to the new sounds almost greedily. There was even a smell to the rain of its own; through the windows she had spread open, the smell of green wet newness entered and permeated the room.

Glancing quickly around to see if any of the palace tutors or advisors were around, Rapunzel leaned carefully out of the window, not far enough to get her head wet but enough to reach out and let the water hit her fingers. At first she jumped back at the drastic coolness, but soon she became used to the sensation and stretched out both hands to catch the rain in her cupped palms as she hooked her feet across the edge of the window seat to keep from falling out. Closing her eyes blissfully, she took a deep breath and let it out slowly, relishing how the clean green smell filled her lungs and refreshed her spirit. It would have been a perfect day to spend curled up with a cup of steaming hot chocolate – one of her new favorite drinks – and a book, or, even better, with Eugene…

Luckily, the palace tutors had given her a day off from her studies and so she had been able to spend time by the window, watching the rain fall with a book on her lap and a mug of cooling hot chocolate near the open window. The only thing that could have made the moment any better would be the presence of her boyfriend, but unfortunately he was busy elsewhere in the castle, being trained as a guard. An amused smile spread across Rapunzel's face and she bit the corner of her cheek at the idea of Eugene getting training from the same people he had goaded into chasing him multiple times during his thieving career, but at least they had seemed to reach a common understanding without too much bloodshed. She was thoroughly proud of his hard work, but she wished that he was there with her.

As Eugene stormed down the palace halls, the stormy state of his mind would have easily rivaled the thunderclouds surrounding the kingdom. He had been planning for weeks to surprise Blondie with a picnic for their anniversary, even managing to convince her tutors to let her have the day off so she wouldn't feel guilty about abandoning her studies. He'd even talked her parents into letting him take her on a boat ride to visit the Snugly Duckling to see their friends – which hadn't been too hard with her mother, but the king was immensely protective of his returned daughter. But he'd finally gotten the man to give his permission – and then the rain had to come along and muck all of his plans up.

_How is it that the plans I spend the most time on keep not working out the way I plan?_ Eugene thought as he continued toward Rapunzel's room. He'd put a great deal of time and effort into making this date work, pretty impressive for someone who'd been known to claim that he'd never go in for something so sappy as an anniversary, and it had been in vain. And his final caper, the time he'd gone to steal the Lost Princess' crown with the Stabbington brothers had definitely not gone according to plan.

A smile lit his face and the clouds in his mind receded a little as his mind wandered back to that day, and how all his plans had gone awry after he'd climbed into the tower to hide. He'd planned to skip the country and end up living alone and free on some tropical island. He hadn't planned on that tower being occupied. He hadn't planned on taking a strange girl on a field trip just so he could get the crown back. He hadn't planned on falling in love…

Eugene arrived at the door of Rapunzel's room and slowly pushed it open. His heart melted a little as he saw her, leaning against the window with her legs folded against her with one hand cupping her chin and the other reaching out to the rain. With a smirk and the silent footsteps of a veteran thief he crept up behind her and wrapped an arm around her shoulder. She jumped slightly but relaxed into him as he kissed her hair. Rapunzel looked up and beamed at him. "Hey, Eugene! I thought you were still in training today."

"Nope," he grinned as he sat opposite her, folding his legs but leaning toward his girlfriend who had returned her gaze to the storm thundering outside. His eyes followed the path of her gaze and he frowned slightly. "Scared of the storm, Blondie?"

Rapunzel shook her head, causing her short brown bangs to fall into her eyes. "No, it's just weird to see it from this angle."

Something told Eugene she had been studying with her math tutor recently. "What do you mean?"

"Well," Rapunzel pulled her hand in from the opened window and used it to fold her legs closer to her, "I mean it's the first storm I've seen since I've let the tower, and watching storms was a lot different there." Her face clouded over slightly and she bit her lip, her usual reaction when she remembered the tower. Eugene moved closer to her and put both arms around her, holding her close as she leaned her head against her head against his shoulder and sighed. "Moth-Gothel never let me play out in the rain, she wouldn't even let me lean my head out the window." She reached up to grab the long golden locks only for her fist to close on air, and she let the fist drop to her side. "She said I would catch cold and get sick and then where would she be?" A sardonic smile crossed her face and she laughed slightly. "Of course, what she meant by that was a lot different from what I thought she meant."

Eugene remained silent, simply tightening his arms around her and rubbing her hair in an effort to soothe her. As she relaxed more against him, his mind wandered back to the old witch and his teeth clenched. He had once been an admittedly selfish person, but he could never be so selfish as to keep someone of so much spirit and joy trapped away from the world for years and years…although a similar thought had crossed his mind when that prince interested in courting her had come for a visit…

Some of Eugene's favorite memories as a kid was when it rained; all the kids in the orphanage would go outside to play and even some of the sisters would come out and join in the fun. Races, distance sliding matches, and no-holds-barred mud fights – Eugene was remembering a certain battle in which he had been the Supreme Victor when Rapunzel shifted slightly. He looked down at her wistful smile and decided to make the best of the situation. He sat up and grabbed her hand. "Come on, Blondie. We're going outside."

"But…it's raining!" Rapunzel exclaimed as she let herself be pulled up.

Eugene smirked. "Exactly."

···

Rapunzel appeared torn between apprehension and excitement as she looked out into the rain. It was strange that she was so nervous about the rain, since she had charged into other brand new experiences without hesitation, but that was how it was. She turned to see Eugene pulling off his boots and socks and tossing them carelessly at a dry spot near the palace doors. Rapunzel quickly caught the hint and removed her own shoes, letting out a pleased sigh as she stretched out her toes from the unfamiliar sensation of having them encased in shoes. A rich chuckle resounded above her head and she looked at Eugene who was grinning. "Been too long since I've seen those cute toes."

Rapunzel flushed violently red and giggled. Eugene held out a hand and she took it. "Come on, Blondie, let's go." And he pulled her out into the rain.

It was unlike anything she'd felt before. Cool raindrops fell around her, matting her short brown hair to her forehead and soaking her clothing. Rain fell down her face in cooling rivulets and it feel into her eyes, her mouth, and onto her arms. As she took tentative steps into a puddle, the coolness immersed her ankles and she laughed uproariously. Soon, she was dancing in the rain, reveling in the wetness, the freshness, the newness, and feeling wonderfully alive. Eugene held back from actually dancing, but soon she dragged him into joining her. Then his rumbles of laughter joined her gleeful giggles and together they splashed in the increasingly muddy puddles, both forgetting their age and their dignity for the moment.

Eugene swept Rapunzel up into his arms and she squealed in pleased surprise, tightening her arms around his neck as he spun her around in the rain. When they stopped spinning, Rapunzel blinked the dizziness out of her eyes in time to see Eugene leaning down towards her. Before she realized what was happening, his mouth had met hers and he was kissing her, a sweet, slow kiss that made her eyes slide shut, and she leaned against him as he gently lowered her feet to the ground. He broke the kiss to smile down at her, only to have her pull him back down for another kiss.

They stood there a long time kissing as the rain coursed around them, and the world began spinning around them.

···

"Ah-choo!"

The oddly adorable sneeze was followed by a groan and a petulant sniffle. The palace cook, who'd had an especially soft spot for the princess ever since she'd bounded into the kitchen to compliment her on her cream puffs, walked into the royal bedroom herself to deliver some chicken soup for the invalid. The young princess was completely cocooned in her bed sheets but managed a polite nod in gratitude for the soup. Her young man was sitting near the bed and gave her a big grin and a wink, causing the cook to crack a smile as she turned to leave the room. Some of the other palace staff had had misgivings against the presence of the former thief, but she thought he was doing the young girl a world of good.

Rapunzel managed to wait until the door closed after the cook before resuming glaring at her unrepentant boyfriend. "This is all your fault," she wheezed, "you didn't tell me I'd actually get sick."

He grinned at her, unfazed by her glare. "You didn't ask."

She sighed and cradled her face in her hands. "Do you want me to get sick?"

"No," he said, his voice softening as he looked down at her, "but I have to admit you're really cute when you pout."

"I am n-" Rapunzel's indignant reply was cut off by a violent sneeze. She sighed and her lower lip jolted out slightly as she burrowed deeper into her blankets. Eugene put an arm around her and smiled down at her a few shades softer than his usual smirk, and kissed the top of her head.

"Bless you."

* * *

A/N: That Eugene is unbelievable - but we love him anyway. I hope you enjoyed reading this.

Thanks for reading and please review! They make me happy.


End file.
